Tuesday, January 4, 2011

A Christmas to Remember

Happy New Year! I had such big plans to sit and visit all the wonderful blogs during my holiday break and to wish so many of you a Merry Christmas! After we ushered our last guests out the door, we ushered in the flu! Unfortunately, when sickness hits, we all grow a few horns! I have joked many times that the devil ushered himself in, pitched a tent, rolled out his sleeping bag and decided to stay for a while...anyone with me? Does that ever happen? Add to that a big heaping of selfishness mixed with the flu and it makes for a bad combination! Oh, but it is no surprise that the devil himself would try to upstage Christmas!

So, in my effort to remember the 'good' of Christmas 2010, here are some of the more memorable highlights!

I hope your Christmas was wonderful and peaceful!

December 25, 2010 saw a white Christmas here in our little town and this was a first since 1947!

My daughters and I attended an American Girl Fashion Show in early December.

Silent Night...not tonight! We went caroling with our friends....a favorite of mine every year!

Here is my friend's daughter enjoying a candy cane...does it get any sweeter than this?

One of my friends hosts a gingerbread decorating party each year for the children...another highlight and favorite!

The girls take a break from icing to pose!

A little game of 'pick-up' football is good for the boys who were tired of decorating their gingerbread houses.

The lights at McAdenville, NC made for a fun night out with family and friends.

The Billy Graham Library was a great Christmas experience and a first for us...live nativity with real camels and sheep, Christmas carolers, and hot chocolate! Carriage rides were available but the line was too long!

Watching my seven year old son still play with his Thomas trains warmed my heart...I pulled them out to hang as ornaments on a tree in his room, but they never made it there!

Time with old family friends... (before we all got sick!)

Our live nativity...the part of baby Jesus is played by my niece Norah!

We are down to two Wise men...by this point my son felt terrible. My daughters hold their gold and myrrh for the baby Jesus. We made the felt crowns earlier in the month in preparation for our skit!

I had decided not to buy new pajamas for the kids this year, in an effort to stick to our budget, when my sweet neighbor showed up on Christmas Eve with these precious gowns for the girls!

On Christmas morning, the children wait for dad to get the video camera before seeing Santa's surprises!

Dosed up with Tamiflu, I drove my daughter to Atlanta for a one-night visit to the American Girl Store...a present from Santa! She is nine and I love that she still plays with her dolls! The hotel even gave her a free bed for her doll with an outfit and goody bag...what a treat!

School started yesterday and we fell back into our routine. The horns have disappeared and we are cleaning house! I am excited about the New Year!
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Blessings to you in 2011!﻿

Hey friend! I am so sorry that you have all been so sick! "Get behind me Satan!" :-) I'm glad you are all on the mend and I'm lovin these pics of you enjoying your time together this Christmas. Your kiddos are so darling and it looks like they had so many fun activities going on! I loved seeing the Billy Graham library and when you said you found your son playing with the trains I just melted. Ian doesn't play with his as much anymore either but when I asked him the other day if he would want to donate his train table to a Sunday School class at church his eyes welled up with tears and he told me he wasn't quite ready to do that yet. Of course, his mama had to go off and shed her own tears after that! We spent countless hours building tracks together so that is bittersweet for sure! My daughter has a Bitty Baby she loves so we are slowly entering the land of American Girl here too. I love it! Every time you do a post with your kiddos in it I just want to meet you for a cup of coffee so we can talk about life and parenting and decorating too of course! :-)Hope you have a good week getting back into the swing of things!Vanessa

I hope your family is all better and over their sickness! We spent New Years Eve with your Aunt JE and Uncle Dave!!So excited Janie is blessing our neighborhood with a new little one next summer! Happy New Year!Carol in GA

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Seeker of Truth; married to Rob on a journey to the cross; mom to three amazing children who teach me more about life than I do them; blogger; recreational photographer; writer; designer wannabe; student of the world with a wanderlust appetite to travel and see it; grateful...always.